TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The woman who oversaw the documentation of voter disenfranchisement during the 2000 presidential election has asked the Democratic Party to settle a fight with Florida and Michigan.

Mary Frances Berry, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights chairwoman until 2004, is concerned that there will be a battle at the August convention in Denver over the seating of delegates from the two states. The Democratic National Committee stripped the states of their delegates for moving primaries to before Feb. 5.

Berry and Roger Wilkins, a George Mason University history professor and former Justice Department official involved in the civil-rights movement, contacted DNC chairman Howard Dean on Sunday. The DNC declined to comment.

Huckabee compares record as governor to Romney’s

Republican Mike Huckabee told voters in Texarkana, Ark., to look at his history as a Southern Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor to see he is consistent on conservative issues.

Huckabee sought to draw a distinction between his candidacy and that of Mitt Romney without naming the former Massachusetts governor. Romney supported gay rights and abortion rights — positions from which he has since sought to distance himself.

“Being president is not just a job. It’s a sacred trust,” Huckabee told about 600 people at an airport hangar. “People give you the trust of that office, and people need to know what you say is what you really believe and there’s clarity to your convictions.”

Kennedy, DeNiro praise Obama

Democrat Barack Obama campaigned Monday with Sen. Edward Kennedy and his niece, Caroline Kennedy, at the Meadowlands, next to the home of the Super Bowl champion New York Giants. “For me to be able to bring a Patriots fan to the Meadowlands the day after the Super Bowl is like bringing the lion and the lamb together,” Obama said. “We can bridge all gaps and all divisions in this country.”

Obama was introduced by actor Robert DeNiro, who was booed when he said Obama didn’t have the experience to be president — the experience to vote for a war that has damaged the U.S. or the experience to be beholden to special interests. “That’s the kind of inexperience our country deserves,” DeNiro said.

Vail Resorts announced today in a news release that the company has entered into an agreement to purchase the ski fields at Falls Creek Alpine Resort (“Falls Creek”) and Hotham Alpine Resort (“Hotham”) in Victoria, Australia.

It's been 20 years this month since three people -- a 9-year-old girl, her dad, and a man who worked for him -- disappeared. Westminster investigators believe the trio were murdered and their bodies hidden.